07/11/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. department would handle the program, and Ms. Niven answered that HCC would be in charge of the program, though each pro- posal would have to come before the Council. Mr. Li euall en asked if the City would be obligated to provide the subsidy if a request met certain written criteria. Stan Long, Ci ty Attorney's Office, pointed out there were no legal precedents for the program. He said the proposal was permissive in that it stated the City "may" approve an application. Also, he said the City would have more leeway in granting the subsidy for proposed structures than it would if the subsidy were more for existing structures. He said the City could probably not be arbitrary in its approval. Assistant Manager asked Mr. Long if the City could at any time terminate the program and deny any subsequent applications. Mr. Long said that was his understanding. Ms. Niven pointed out that the Council had to determine the public benefit of each project in addition to its benefit to those who would be housed at the project. She suggested this gave the Council additional latitude in its selection of applicants. Mr. Hamel said his main concern was dollars. He said if the land was worth more with its original structure than it was worth without the structure, it would cost the taxpayer more on his local taxes. Ms. Niven said the Joint Housing Committee would not allow good housing to be torn down. She said that sort of a situation would not meet any of the criteria which had to be met to make an appli- e cant eligible for the subsidy. Mr. Hamel then asked if developers were not likely to go ahead and build in the area being considered even without being tax exempt. Ms. Niven said none had yet developed in the area. She said they had not because they could not get the rent they would have to ask unless they built luxury housing. She said luxury housing was fine but that the need in that area was for low-income housing. She said HUD would not agree to help finance projects in the area without an offset, such as the tax exempt status. Mr. Bradley asked the Assistant Manager if the City would in any way commit itself to any of the three proposals it had heard that night if it passed the bill. Assistant Manager said that the City would not be committed to those development proposals. Mayor Keller asked how many units could be expected to be requested in the area in question in the next five to ten years. Ms. Niven pointed out that the bill would only be in effect for another three years. She said this meant projects would be have to be started in the next one to two years and would probably include no more than 300 units. Mayor Keller asked if the program would be ongoing, to which Ms. Niven responded that would depend how successful it was. Res. No. 2711--Concerning multiple-unit rental housing property e tax exemption within a designated area; declaring publiC necessity and adopting standards and guide- lines was read by number and title. 7/11/77--9 550